He begins with a little history about what was called in the early 20th century “the liturgical movement." Beginning with Pope Saint Pious X and his motu propio and its intention:
to restore the liturgy so as to make its treasures more accessible, so that it might also become again the source of authentically Christian life.He ties this to Sacrosanctum Concilium, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church and addresses the motu propio "Summorum Pontificum," which was promulgated ten years ago, and whose anniversary is the reason for the Colloquium.
One of his comments:
The liturgy must therefore always be reformed so as to be more faithful to its mystical essence. But most of the time, this “reform” that replaced the genuine “restoration” intended by the Second Vatican Council was carried out in a superficial spirit and on the basis of only one criterion: to suppress at all costs a heritage that must be perceived as totally negative and outmoded so as to excavate a gulf between the time before and the time after the Council.I think this well describes what Benedict XVI referred to as a hermeneutics of disruption.
He continues:
Now it is enough to pick up the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy again and to read it honestly, without betraying its meaning, to see that the true purpose of the Second Vatican Council was not to start a reform that could become the occasion for a break with Tradition, but quite the contrary, to rediscover and to confirm Tradition in its deepest meaning.
The Cardinal addresses a number of points citing Pope Benedict, Sacrosanctum Concilium, a number of liturgists, and reflects on some statements from some bishops in the aftermath of Vatican II.
He makes so many excellent points, it is difficult to summarize them, and I encourage you to read the text of his talk slowly and thoroughly, in its' entirety.
